Stable-cleaning device



(No, Model.)

0. A. MONROE. STABLE CLEANING DEVICE.

No. 556,637. Paterited Mar. 17, 1896.

/NVENTO/? ATTORNEYS.

AN DREW BJSRAHAM. PHOTO-LITHQWA SH NG'YON. n c

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE A. MONROE, OF LOVELAND, COLORADO.

STAB LE-C LEANING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,637, dated March17, 1896. Application filed May 8,1895. Serial No, 548,460. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE A. MONROE, of Loveland, in the county ofLarimer and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Stable-Cleaning Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of deviceswhich are especially adapted for use in removing manure, &c., fromstables, and the object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter of a simple and inexpensive nature which shall be betteradapted for use in cleaning stables and the like than other devicesheretofore in use.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts ashereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of my invention, aportion of the length of the carrier and trench or trough between theopposite walls of a barn or stable being broken out. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section taken through the trough or trench,showing the device constructed according to my invention; and Fig. 3 isa perspective detail view drawn to an enlarged scale and showing theconstruction of the flights employed for the carrier.

In the views, 1 and 2 represent portions of the opposite walls of a barnor stable, and 3 represents the floor of the same. 4 is a trough ortrench, which may be constructed of wood or of any other suitablematerial, sunk in the floor below the level thereof and having its endspassing through apertures or perforations 5, formed in the oppositewalls 1 and 2, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2.

Outside of and adjacent to the wall 1 of the barn the projecting end ofthe trough 4 is provided with brackets 6 at its opposite sides, betweenwhich is journaled a roller or drum 7, having an operating-handle 8,whereby it may be rotated, and the opposite end of the trough 4 isprovided with a hinged section 9 having an open bottom 10, the side barsof said section 9 being provided with hinges 11 at their rear ends,whereby they are connected to the forward ends of the adjacent sectionof the trough, and said side bars of the hinged sections 9 are connectedat their forward ends by a cross-bar, and between them is j ournaled adrum 12, on the shaft of which is fixed a gear-wheel 13 meshing with apinion 14 secured on a cross-shaft 15, also journaled between the sidebars of said hinged section 9, and provided at its opposite end with acrankhandle 16, whereby said drum 12 may be operated.

The cross-bar at the forward end of the hinged section 9 of the troughis provided with an eye or staple 17, to which is connected a cord orrope 18 which extends diagonally upward, as indicated in Fig. 2, andpasses over a sheave 19 secured to the side wall 2 of the barn orstable, being thence carried down and connected to and adapted to bewound on a Windlass or drum 20, whereby when desired the hinged section9 may be raised on its hinge-pivots to a vertical position, as indicatedin dotted lines at 21 in Fig. 2.

When in its horizontal position,as indicated in full lines in Fig. 2,the hinged section 9- rests at its forward end on a support 22 formedwith an interior hollow, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2, arrangeddirectly under the drum or roller 12, and the said hinged section 9,when in its horizontal position, will be by preference at a sufficientelevation above a roadway 23, located below it, to permit a wagon to bedriven along said roadway in position to receive the manure fallingthrough the open bottom of said hinged section.

The carrier comprises wire ropes 24 or their equivalents secured atopposite ends to the respective drums 7 and 12, said ropes having fixedthereon stops 25, suitably spaced apart, the stops on the respectivecables being arranged to correspond with one another and being adaptedto engage the rear sides of the flights 26, as indicated in Fig. 2, saidflights being formed of wood or other suitable material and beingprovided around their edges with wearing-strips 27 of sheet metal andbeing provided with vertical slots 28 adapted to receive the respectivecables 24, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The flights 26 are adapted to be drawn along by the cables 24 in aninclined position,

as clearly indicated in Fig. 2, and at the outer sides of the openbottom of the hinged section 9 of the trough longitudinal guide-rods 29are arranged, adapted to receive and support said flights, the said rodsbeing secured at opposite ends in cross-bars 30, connecting therespective side bars of the hinged section 9 at opposite ends of theopen bottom thereof. The flights 26 are connected together by chains 31or other flexible connections secured to their upper parts in such amanner as to permit free movement of said flights, whereby when theflights have passed over the crossbar 30 at the forward end of the openbottom of the hinged section 9 of the trough they will fall into thechamber or recess formed in the support 22 above mentioned and becomedisengaged from the cables 24, so as to permit the same to be properlywound upon the drum 12.

The series, of flights is connected at the end adjacent to the drum 7with a slide 26 having end pieces 26 adapted to hold the same in avertical position when moved along the trough l, and said slide 26 isprovided with perforations through which pass the cables 24, saidcablesbeing provided with stops 24: similar to stops 25 arranged onopposite sides of said slide.

The trough or trench 4 is arranged by preference to extend along therear ends of the stalls, and is adapted to receive the manure and otherrefuse, and in operation, when it is desired to remove the manure, &c.,the handle 16 is manipulated to wind up the cables or ropes 24 on thedrum 12, so as to cause the stops 25 to bear on the rear sides of theflights 26 and move the same in a vertical position in the direction ofthe arrow as in Fig. 1,whereby the manure is carried from the barn orstable and deposited through the open bottom 10 of the hinged section 9into a wagon or other receptacle arranged in the roadway 23 to receivethe same, the flights 26, after passing said open bottom, beingdeposited in the recess or chamber of the support 22, as abovedescribed.

WVhen the trough 4 has been emptied, the handle Sis manipulated so as tocause the stops 25 to bear on the front sides of the slide 26, wherebysaid slide is returned to its original position, the flights 26 beingdrawn up one after the other into engagement with the cables 24 andbeing carried to their original positions in the trough 4 in inclinedpositions.

lVhen the device is not in use the windlass or drum 20 may bemanipulated to elevate the hinged section 9 to the inclined positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that said section will be out of theway of teams passing along the roadway From the above description itwill be seen that the device is of extremely simple and inexpensiveconstruction and is well adapted for use in cleaning stables and thelike, inasmuch as it takes up little room, it being possible to elevatethe hinged section 9 to a vertical position when not in use.

It will also be seen that the device as herein shown and described issusceptible of some modification as to its details of construction, andfor this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theprecise construction and arrangement of the device as herein shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a device of the character described, thecombination with a trough having an opening in its bottom at one end, ofa drum mounted on the trough at the end provided with the opening,cables secured to the drum, and flights having a detachable engagementwith the cables, whereby the flights will be disengaged from the cablesand drop through the opening in the troughto permit the cables to windupon the drum, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a troughprovided with an opening in its bottom at one end, of the drum mountedon the trough at the end provided with the opening, cables secured tothe drum and provided with a series of spaced stops, and flightsprovided with recesses in their upper edges to receive the cables,whereby provision is made for permitting the flights to be disengagedfrom the cables and drop through the opening in the trough,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

CLARENCE A. MONROE.

Vitnesses:

A. S. BENSON, HAROLD FIsK.

